MasterCard Canada Testing Payments On NFC Mobile Phones

MasterCard Canada announced today it has launched a four-month trial of PayPass transactions using Near-Field Communications-enabled mobile phones. Some 75 participants in the closed trial are using Samsung-brand phones provided by Bell Mobility Inc., the wireless network subsidiary of Bell Canada. Nagesh Devata, vice president of acceptance development and new products for MasterCard Canada, tells CardLine the participants are employees of MasterCard Canada, Bell Mobility and financial institutions involved in the trial. Devata declined to name the financial institutions. Trial participants are able to pay anywhere PayPass is accepted by tapping their phones against PayPass readers, Devata says. He added that the trial now only draws payments from single accounts but soon will expand to offer users the choice of multiple accounts from which to pay using their NFC phones. Configuring phones using over-the-air programming instructions will be another key part of the trial, according to Devata. "Another part is bringing together the financial institution with the [mobile network] carrier, trying to explore the optimal business model," he adds. Disputes over transaction revenue-sharing between banks and telcos have stymied the spread of NFC-enabled mobile payments in much of the world. Red Gillen, senior analyst at Celent LLC, calls the trial "another proof of concept test that the payment brands are rolling out in various national markets to raise the comfort levels of those countries' issuing banks." Gillen tells CardLine such NFC tests should not be limited just to technology and ease of use. "In addition, testing should provide answers to the big mobile NFC question: Will it lead to incremental card spend?"